A1 Team Lebanon to test potential drivers

A1 Team Lebanon, one of the 23 national teams competing in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, is attending a two day test at the Snetterton Circuit in England this week. Two drivers have been selected to take part, Khalil Beschir, and Chris Alajajian.

Beschir has been with A1 Team Lebanon since the start of the Series, although he only drove at one event in the last season, competing at the Malaysian round in November last year, and will be using the opportunity of this pre-season test to reacquaint himself with the A1 car.

Speaking of the chance to be back behind the wheel Beschir, 24, commented; "It’s a long time since I’ve was in the A1 car, with my run in Malaysia being the last time I drove any race car. It might take me a while to get used to this car, but I’m very pleased to be given another opportunity with A1 Team Lebanon. The test at Snetterton will be a good chance for me to get some more mileage under my belt and hopefully I can show the team how quick I can be."

Team Lebanon will also be giving an opportunity to young, up-and-coming Australian-Lebanese driver Chris Alajajjan to test the A1GP car. 19-year-old Alajajjan has an impressive racing background; most notably he competed in the Australian Formula 3 series where he finished the championship in third place.

His championship campaign included a crushing win in the A1 Grand Prix support race at Eastern Creek, during which he set a series-high of seven fastest race laps. Alajajjan also has a proven track-record in saloon racing; he recently had an outing in the Protecnica Racing Subaru during a limited schedule in the Australian Performance Car Championship

Despite only contesting just over half of the rounds, he recorded a series-high five race wins. Not content with the tarmac, Alajajjan even tried his hand at rallying, with a drive in the WPS Rally Bathurst in the Subaru RS Challenge where he adapted well.

Alajajjan is keen to drive the A1GP car, saying; "This is a great opportunity for me; it’ll be the most powerful single seater I’ll have driven to date, so that’s cool, and representing the country of my heritage is also a very unique prospect. I was part of the support races at the Eastern Creek A1GP round, and it’s an exciting feeling knowing that I’ll actually have the chance to drive an A1 car myself next week. A1GP is a highly professional series and working alongside Khalil and the team at Snetterton, I hope to learn from them."

Last week Team Lebanon also announced a switch of technical team to Argo Racing for the forthcoming season; the test session will be an opportunity for the team and drivers to acquaint themselves with each other and the car in preparation for a promising season in A1GP.

Ahead of the test Tameem Auchi, Seat Holder, A1 Team Lebanon commented, "The outing at Snetterton is a chance for us to shake down the car after the summer rebuild, assess another young Lebanese driver with the potential to be part of the team, and give Khalil testing miles to reacquaint himself with the A1 machinery and work with the new team."

The third season of the Series starts on 28th/29th September in Zandvoort, the Netherlands, with a total of 11 weekends of racing. A1GP is a unique concept in motorsport, with nation competing against nation for patriotic pride.

- Alison Hill -  photo copyright A1GP